Shadewood water petal

"ta'. sta'," kusax̱asaa gently corrected, even as his heart surged through the agonies with something raw, something more primal: the ferocious adoration of parent to child.

it was the fault of the man who had been cen that he had experienced little of this with ghelan. but he remembered ghaden lying in gheli's arms, and how for such a tiny sunlit time he had known a father's first joy.

it came again, elbowing itself insistently between the harrowing angst and hateful simmer which tried to dominate kusax̱asaa's thoughts. another smile. "sii'ae," he said at last. "unhk'enaey."

there was a horrid tightness in his throat.

"caan. fa'liya. ghe'naya. unhk'enaey. unhk'enaey. unhk'enaey."

these words meant nothing to c'ede' for now, and his father understood such. yet a power was in repetition, for one day the pale ears would listen, and all that kusax̱asaa meant to impress upon his child would come to life in the young soul.